Mark Knopfler signs with Verve and releases "Privateering" in September!

New album, "Privateering," to be released September 10

Universal Music Group announced a worldwide deal with legendary musician and songwriter Mark Knopfler. Knopfler’s new record Privateering will debut on UMG’s Verve Records on September 10 (globally) after a 35 year relationship with Warner Brother Records.

Max Hole, Chairman and CEO UMG International comments, “Mark has long been one of the most innovative and successful artists in music and we’re thrilled he’s decided to sign to Verve so that we are now working with him everywhere across the world.” The new music is Knopfler’s first double album of new music in his entire recording career. “The older I get, the more I want to write,” Knopfler notes. “I’m enjoying the process more than ever, writing, recording and playing live, I enjoy all of it. I’m almost tripping over songs.”

Recorded at Knopfler’s award-winning British Grove Studios in West London,Privateering is a collection of tough tales of real people, living hard lives in difficult times. The record features musicians Knopfler has been working with for years - Guy Fletcher (keyboards), Richard Bennett (guitar), Jim Cox (piano), Glenn Worf (bass), Mike McGoldrick (whistle and flute), John McCusker (fiddle) and the recent addition of Ian Thomas (drums). Special guests include Paul Franklin (pedal steel), Kim Wilson, (harmonica), Tim O’Brien (mandolin), and rising singing star Ruth Moody, who is also a member of the leading roots group The Wailin’ Jennys.

Of the new release, Knopfler explains, “I chose to make a double album this time just because of the sheer volume of material. I didn’t want to separate songs into genres and I didn't want to leave too many songs on the shelf. I just wanted it to be a reflection of the fantastic sessions we had. With a great bunch of players, it’s the same as a great group of actors reading a script from the page, the thing can come alive in ways it just never has before. This is the band I have been working towards my whole life.”

A multiple Grammy award winner as the lead singer/songwriter for Dire Straits, Knopfler combined his wry lyrics with his guitar prowess to create such major hits as “Money For Nothing,” “Sultans Of Swing,” “Romeo and Juliet” and “Walk of Life.” He has collaborated with artists such as Bob Dylan, Randy Newman, Emmylou Harris and Van Morrison, as well as scoring several films including Cal, Local Hero, Princess Bride and A Shot at Glory.

Gina Saputo w/ Slide FX Trombone Big Band live @ Steamers in CA tonight, July 29

Steamer!

TONITE  MONDAY JULY 29 8P-11P NO COVER 

ALL AGES 714-871-8800 RSVP!  

GINA SAPUTO WITH SLIDE FX TROMBONE BIG BAND!

Monday night is big band night at Steamers! 

One of your favorite contemporary jazz singers, Gina Saputo, meets the Slide Fx Trombone Tentet 

 

Consisting of six trombones and a full rhythm section, the Orange-County based jazz trombone ensemble was formed in 1983 as a vehicle for top-tier So. California trombonists to showcase their ensemble performance, improvisational and arranging talents.  Slide FX will delight, surprise and amaze you as it performs a combination of original and special arrangements by it own members.  While the arrangements performed are technically challenging and also require competency in the extreme high and low registers of the instrument, they are appealing to a wide variety of audiences that appreciate both jazz and commercial music.  Different members of the group are featured soloists on each tune. Come share an evening of excessive music loving! Come hang out with us, call (714) 871-8800 for your RSVP!

Trombone Shorty's new album coming soon

Trombone Shorty's new album, "Say That To Say This," is set for release on September 10 via Verve. The debut single from the album, "Fire & Brimstone", premiered exclusively on USATODAY.com on July 18. Trombone Shorty (Troy Andrews) co-produced the 10-track CD with Grammy-nominated R&B master Raphael Saadiq. The album also features Trombone Shorty performing with funk legends, the original Meters with Cyril Neville on "Be My Lady", marking The Meters' first studio recording together since 1977.

"It's really funky, like James Brown funk mixed with New Orleans Meters and Neville Brothers mixed with what I do on top… And we have a bit of R&B from Raphael's side," said Andrews about the new record. Saadiq added, "If you're a producer or musician, you want to work with other great musicians because it only betters you… I was just honored to be a part of the project."

"Say That To Say This" follows Trombone Shorty's Grammy-nominated "For True" which spent twelve weeks at #1 on Billboard's contemporary jazz chart and garnered rave reviews from major news outlets including Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, Billboard, USA TODAY, and NPR. Since the "For True" release, Andrews has performed at The White House and played on recent releases by everyone from Zac Brown to Rod Stewart to Eric Clapton and Cee Lo Green. He's appeared on the cover of DownBeat, as well as performed on Conan, The Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. In May 2013, he took on the highly prestigious slot closing the entire New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (previously held for over two decades by The Neville Brothers). Andrews has also taken steps to help young students in his own community by creating and fostering a mentoring program at Tulane University via his Trombone Shorty Foundation.

Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue have confirmed a relentless tour schedule in support of the new album, including performances at the Newport Folk Festival, Outside Lands in San Francisco and New York's Central Park Summerstage, as well as dates with The Avett Brothers, Zac Brown Band and Grace Potter.

Pablo Ziegler's "Tango Conexion" back @ Birdland, NYC, this week

Delta Air Lines Presents PABLO ZIEGLER'S 'TANGO CONEXION' back @ Birdland, with special guest Stefon Harris! July 30 - Aug 3.

Pablo Ziegler, the Argentinian, Latin Grammy Award winning Tango/Jazz legend returns to Birdland with an exciting ensemble. His quartet will consist of Walter Castro (on bandoneon, direct from Buenos Aires), Claudio Ragazzi (guitar) and Pedro Giraudo (bass). Add to this Classical cellist Jisoo Ok and special guest jazz vibist Stefon Harris. Tango Conexion is produced by Pat Philips & Ettore Stratta.

Ziegler, composer/pianist/arranger who toured with the great Argentinian musician Astor Piazzolla for years, brings his prowess behind the piano and his compositional talent to this most interesting ensemble, a program mix of Piazzolla and Ziegler.

Mr. Ziegler is the greatest living exponent of Nuevo Tango. Says All About Jazz, Ziegler “brings a sense of passion and surprise to every one of his solos.” His just released CD with the Metropole Orkest of Amsterdam has been receiving raves from all the critics with Critical Jazz calling it “an inspiring release proving that the brilliance of New Tango did not die with Astor Piazzolla but instead has been reinvented under the skillful hands of the great Pablo Ziegler.”

The music will swing left and right with Maestro Ziegler's majestic flair dazzling audiences on piano in the center of it all. Special arrangements have been written for cello taking the music into a breathtaking arena of 'Tango Meets Classical" with sensual rhythms and then making a right turn as Stefon Harris takes the stage and improvises upon Ziegler's charts taking Tango sounds deep into Jazz and all the excitement that brings.

Birdland
315 W. 44th Street
Shows: 8:30 & 11:00 pm
Reservations: 212-581-3080 or
www.birdlandjazz.com

Full dinner menu – Parking nearby

R.I.P.: Laurie Frink

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/18/arts/music/laurie-frinktrumpeter-and-brass-instructor-to-many-dies-at-61.html?_r=0

Laurie Frink,Trumpeter and Brass Instructor to Many, Dies at 61
By NATE CHINEN
Published: July 17, 2013
Laurie Frink, an accomplished trumpeter who became a brass instructor of widespread influence and high regard, died on Saturday at her home in Manhattan. She was 61.

The cause was cancer of the bile duct, said the classical violist Lois Martin, her partner of 25 years.
Ms. Frink built her trumpet career as a section player, starting when few women were accepted in those ranks. She worked extensively on Broadway and with the Benny Goodman Orchestra, the Mel Lewis Orchestra and Gerry Mulligan’s Concert Jazz Band, often playing lead.

“She was one of the most accurate trumpet players I’ve ever heard,” John McNeil, who recalled playing in trumpet sections alongside Ms. Frink some 40 years ago, said in an interview.

Ms. Frink and Mr. McNeil wrote a book together, “Flexus: Trumpet Calisthenics for the Modern Improvisor,” which has become an essential resource for many trumpeters since its publication a decade ago. The book’s exercises and études came from Ms. Frink’s reservoir of strategies for addressing physical issues on the horn, especially where a player’s embouchure, or formation of lips and facial muscles, was concerned.
“She would take each player and find out what was causing the problem — and then do it to herself, so she could figure out a solution,” said the celebrated trumpeter Dave Douglas, who sought out Ms. Frink when he ran into embouchure problems in the early 1990s. Meeting with her, Mr. Douglas recalled, “was like a combination of therapy, gym instruction and music lesson.”
A warm but private person with a sharp wit, Ms. Frink earned the protective loyalty of her students. Some of the brass players she counseled — trombonists and others as well as trumpeters — were, like Mr. Douglas and Mr. McNeil, working professionals seeking to discreetly avert career-ending difficulties.
But as a faculty member at several leading jazz conservatories, she also mentored many trumpeters at a more formative stage, including Ambrose Akinmusire and Nadje Noordhuis, who have since gained prominence in jazz circles. “I always encourage my students to be the square peg,” Ms. Frink said in 2011. “Sometimes it’s difficult for them, so I try to nurture that. They call me trumpet mother.”
Laurie Ann Frink was born on Aug. 8, 1951, in Pender, Neb., a small town now claimed by the Omaha Indian Reservation, to James and Carol Frink. Her father was a candy salesman. In addition to Ms. Martin, she is survived by her brother, James.

Ms. Frink studied with Dennis Schneider, the principal trumpeter with the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra, at the University of Nebraska. After moving to New York in her early 20s, she met Carmine Caruso, a brass guru who devised an adaptable set of calisthenic exercises for trumpet.
Ms. Frink became Mr. Caruso’s protégée, and for more than a dozen years his romantic partner. He died in 1987. Her own style of instruction was an extension of the Caruso method.

Ms. Frink never stopped playing at a high level. She appears on every album by the Maria Schneider Orchestra, including two that won Grammy Awards. “When I wrote these subtle inner parts, I would always give them to her,” Ms. Schneider said. “I knew she was the person who would really spin the heart into the line.”

Ms. Frink also worked in recent years with other critically acclaimed big bands, including the John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble, Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society and Ryan Truesdell’s Gil Evans Project. Her recorded work will endure, but for many of her former students her instruction is her chief legacy. “In a way it’s a very living art form,” Mr. Douglas said. “There are people all over town, and all over the world, doing what she told them to do.”

He said he practiced a routine of hers on Sunday morning after hearing the news of her death.

Anna Mjoll live @ Vibrato, tonight!

Anna Mjöll, backed by Pat Senatore, Josh Nelson & Kevin Kanner performs tonight, July 28th, at Herb Alpert's Vibrato Grill Jazz. Showtime 8pm. No cover, but reservations are a must! Call (310) 474.9400 for reservations. Hope to see you there!

40 Years of Airto Moreira's "Fingers"

Recorded in April 1973 and released in July of that same year, Airto's legendary "Fingers" album is celebrating 40 years!

When I listened to its title track on radio, I felt such an impact impossible to describe. But I can say that, although I was already a big fan of Airto Moreira as well as of the CTI catalog at that time, "Fingers" sounded completely NEW for me. I was familiar with Airto's work with Miles Davis, Chick Corea's Return To Forever, I loved his previous solo albums and was collecting anything on which he appeared as sideman - from Cannonball Adderley to Paul Desmond to Gary McFarland. I was also buying all CTI releases; from Jackie & Roy to Deodato, plus Hubert Laws, George Benson and Freddie Hubbard.

But "Fingers" appeared as an one-of-a-kind project, full of a special vital energy and raw creativity. Call it fusion or jazz-rock, it was completely different from any fusion or jazz-rock album previously released. I heard its title track on JB-AM radio station in the morning (I was 10 years old at that time), and by the end of the day I had purchased the vinyl, with that fantastic Pete Turner photo on the front cover. The usicians listed on the back cover were all unfamiliar to me, except Flora Purim of course. But what a band! It was easy to notice that they were all great new talents (Hugo Fattoruso, Ringo Thielmann, David Amaro, and Jorge Osvaldo Fattoruso, credited as George Fattoruso), and that Hugo was a genius.

Hugo, Jorge and Ringo had been performing for years as a trio called OPA. Airto saw them in a New Jersey restaurant, invited them to be part of a new band he was forming, added David Amaro and Flora, and the rest is history. Below are some rare covers of LP and singles issues, the 4-star review printed in DownBeat, and pics of the same photo sessions (by Allen MacWeeney in Boston, where the band was performing) that yielded the photo shot used in the liner cover of the original LP issue. Happy 40th Anniversary, "Fingers!"

SHM-CD of the Month - "Getz/Gilberto + 50"

SHM-CD of the Month
"Getz/Gilberto + 50" (Verve)

Produced by Goro Ito
Featuring Getz/Gilberto Lovers 
Engineers: Kentaro Ino, Yasuo Hiruma
Assistant Engineers: Duda Mello, Fumio Hoshino, Takumi Hasegawa, Kunihiro Imazeki, Norihiko Katsumata & Chinami Kamiya
Mixed by Kentaro Ino
Mastered by Ted Jensen @ Sterling Sound (NYC, NY, USA)
Cover Painting: Olga Albizu
Art Direction & Design: Yusuke Yoshinaga

SHM-CD means "Super High Material CD" and involves a new technology of manufacturing. This high quality SHM-CD format features enhanced audio quality through the use of a special polycarbonate plastic. Using a process developed by JVC and Universal Music Japan discovered through the joint companies' research into LCD display manufacturing, SHM-CDs feature improved transparency on the data side of the disc, allowing for more accurate reading of CD data by the CD player laser head. SHM-CD format CDs are fully compatible with standard CD players.

Surreal CD of the Month - "João Gilberto: Você e Eu" w/ Brazilian Love Affair Project

Surreal CD of the Month
João Gilberto: "Você e Eu - Revisited by Brazilian Love Affair Project" (FMC)

Produced by Stefano "Colombo's Touch"
Executive Producer: Alex Zullo for Forte Media & Consulting Sagl.
Arranged, Recorded & Mixed by Elio Baldi Cantù & Stefano "Colombo's Touch" @ Village Studio (Parma)
Mastering: Camillo Corona
Artwork: BurningBox

Featuring: João Gilberto (vocals), Elio Baldi Cantù (Fender Rhodes, acoustic piano, Hammond organ, keyboards, guitars, bass, sax), Stefano "Colombo's Touch" (percussion & drum loops), Giancarlo Porro (flute, soprano sax), Marzio Montali (trumpet), Beppe Di Benedetto (trombone), Francesco Mescoli (bandeon), Jackie Perkins (backing vocals)

Tracks from Joao Gilberto's three legendary (oops!) albums for Odeon are re-constructed by the Italian guys of the Brazilian Love Affair Project. They have added new funky grooves, new bossa beats and new instrumentation (with real horns, synthesized strings and some nice Rhodes solos) to classic songs by Dorival Caymmi ("Rosa Morena"), Roberto Guimarães ("Amor Certinho"), Gilberto himself ("Hô-bá-lá-lá") and Antonio Carlos Jobim ("Outra Vez," among many others). Out of tune note: "Desafinado" is miscredited to Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes, instead of Newton Mendonça. Highlight: the title track "Você e Eu" co-penned by Vinicius & Carlos Lyra. 

DVD of the Month - "Return To Forever / Weather Report: Reelin' In The years"

DVD of the Month
Return To Forever / Weather Report: "Reelin' in the Years" (Monotone)

Featuring: Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Airto Moreira, Joe Farrell, Billy Tragessor (RTF) and Joe Zawinul, Miroslav Vitous, Eric Gravatt, Dom Um Romão, Wayne Shorter (WR)

Single of the Month - "The Decoders feat. Andrée Belle: Young, Willing & Able"

Single of the Month
The Decoders featuring Andrée Belle: "Young, Willing & Able" (Mello Music Group)

The mighty Decoders offered up the second single from their upcoming “Adventures From Paradise: A Tribute To Minnie Riperton”. Shedding the Carribbean feel of previous releases, the collective go straight for the funk on this cover of Minnie’s classic “Young, Willing & Able”. Featuring the beautiful voice of singer Andrée Belle and some funky bass work from Stuart Zender formerly of Jamiroquai, this version is reminiscent of the heyday of acid jazz (Brand New Heavies, Jamiroquai etc) but yet still fresh for a new batch of listeners to enjoy. Check it out and cop.

Box Set CD of the Month - "Turma da Gafieira"

Box Set CD of the Month

"Turma da Gafieira: Recordings 1957" (Monotone)

CD Reissue of the Month - "Freddie Hubbard: Sing Me A Song of Songmy"

CD Reissue of the Month

Freddie Hubbard & Ilhan Mimaroglu: "Sing Me A Song of Songmy" (Atlantic) 

A Fantasy for eletromagnetic tape, featuring Freddie Hubbard and his Quintet, with reciters, chorus, string orchestra, Hammond organ, synthesized & processed sounds. Composed & realized by Ilhan Mimaroglu on poems by Fazil Hüsnü Daglarca, Che Guevara and other texts. Musical quotations from Brahms' "Ein Deutsches Requiem" and Scriabin's "Etude in B flat minor, Op. 8."

Produced by Ilhan Mimaroglu
Engineers: Bob Liftin, Lewis Hahn & Gene Paul
Mastered by George Piros @ Atlantic Recording Studio (NYC, NY, USA)
Cover Painting: Pablo Picasso ("Massacre in Korea")
Back Cover Photo: Ray Ross
Album Design: Loring Eutemey

Featuring: Freddie Hubbard (trumpet & flugelhorn), Kenny Barron (piano), Art Booth (bass), Louis Hayes (drums), Junior Cook (tenor sax) & Arif Mardin (conductor & Hammond organ)
The Barnard-Columbia Chorus conducted by Daniel Paget
Reciters: Mary Ann Hoxworth, Nha-Khê, Charles Grau, Güngör Bozkurt & Freddie Hubbard
String orchestras under the direction of Gene Orloff & Selwart Clarke

12" EP of the Month - "Idris Muhammad / Grover Washington, Jr."

12" EP of the Month (coloured vinyl)

"Idris Muhammad / Grover Washington, Jr." (Kudu)

Side A

Idris Muhammad: "Could Heaven Ever Be Like This"

Composed by David Matthews & Tony Sarafino

Produced, Arranged & Conducted by David Matthews
Featuring: Idris Muhammad (drums, tom tom), Cliff Carter aka Clifford Carter (synthesizer solo), Wilbur Bascomb aka Dud Bascomb (electric bass), Rubens Bassini (congas, percussion), Sue Evans (percussion), Hiram Bullock (electric guitar solo), Charlie Brown (rhythm guitar), Margareth Ross (harp), Michael Brecker (tenor sax solo),  David Tofani (soprano sax), Ronnie Cuber (baritone sax), Randy Brecker & Jon Faddis (trumpets), Frank Floyd (vocal solo), Bill Eaton, Zachary Sanders & Ray Simpson (backing vocals)
Recorded @ Electric Lady Studios (NYC, NY, USA) in February, 1977
Engineered by Dave Palmer & Dave Whitman

Side B

Grover Washington, Jr.: "Mister Magic"

Composed by Ralph MacDonald & William Salter

Arranged & Conducted by Bob James

Produced by Creed Taylor
Featuring: Grover Washington, Jr. (tenor sax), Bob James (Fender Rhodes), Gary King (electric bass), Harvey Mason (drums), Ralph MacDonald (congas, percussion), Eric Gale (electric guitar), Jon Faddis & Marvin Stamm (trumpets), Wayne Andre (trombone), Tony Studd (bass trombone), Jerry Dodgion (tenor sax), Phil Bodner (baritone sax)
Recorded @ Van Gelder Studio (Englewood Cliffs, NJ, USA) in November, 1974
Engineered by Rudy Van Gelder

Vocal CD of the Month - "Scot Albertson: Urge To Croon"

Vocal CD of the Month

Scot Albertson: "Urge To Croon" (SA)

Produced by Scot Albertson

Recorded, Mixed & Mastered @ P.P.I. Recording (New York City, NY) by Chris M. Fabrizi & Scot Albertson

Album Design: Eric Witzer

Art Concept & Direction: Scot Albertson

Photos: Christos Rafalides, George Small, Scott Friedlander, Mayu Saeki

Featuring: Scot Albertson (vocals), Matt Baker & George Small (acoustic pianos), Sean Conly (acoustic bass), Vince Cherico (drums & percussion), Christos Rafalides (vibes), Ron Jackson (Eastman 7-string guitar), Mayu Saeki (flute)

Instrumental CD of the Month - "Robert Hurst: BoB, A Palindrome"

Instrumental CD of the Month
Robert Hurst: "BoB: A Palindrome" (BeBob Records)

Produced by Charles E. Moore
Executive Producers: Robert L. Hurst III & Jill Trent Hurst
Engineers: Mike Marciano (recording), Bernie Kirsch (mixing) & Bob Power (mastering)
Original Art: Tom Reyes
Final Design Format: Mike Roll
Photos: Barbara Dumetz
Manager & Architect of Design for BeBob Music: Jill Trent Hurst

Featuring: Robert Hurst (acoustic bass), Robert Glasper (acoustic piano & Fender Rhodes), Jeff "Tain" Watts (drums), Adam Rudolph (percussion), Branford Marsalis (tenor & soprano sax), Marcus Belgrave (trumpet & flugelhorn), Bennie Maupin (alto flute, bass clarinet, tenor & soprano sax)
Robert Hurst is an M.V.P. -- a long-standing member of Diana Krall's and Chris Botti's touring bands, an esteemed colleague of jazz stars like Branford Marsalis and Robert Glasper, and most recently a key player on Sir Paul McCartney's Grammy-winning "Kisses on the Bottom." But Hurst's own recordings, with his compositions and his bands front and center, are especially welcome events in the jazz world. "BoB: A Palindrome," an all-star Hurst date and the fourth release on his Bebob label, was recently released after an unusually lengthy gestation.

Recorded in October 2001, the CD features a stellar lineup including Marsalis and Glasper as well as Bennie Maupin and Marcus Belgrave (Detroiters like Hurst), Jeff "Tain" Watts, and Adam Rudolph. It immediately follows a pair of simultaneously released, critically praised 2011 albums: "Unrehurst, Volume 2," an electrifying live piano trio date recorded in 2007 featuring Robert Glasper and Chris Dave ("Unrehurst," Volume 1, featuring Glasper and Damian Reed, came out in 2004), and "Bob Ya Head," a politically tinged, radio-friendly studio work that delves into Afro-pop and electronica.

In 2004, Hurst became an Associate Professor of Music, now tenured, at the University of Michigan. It was a positive development that required a reordering of his career priorities. He had hoped to release "BoB: A Palindrome" by then, but in the days following 9/11, it was difficult to find time to put all of its pieces together. Between flying back and forth between Los Angeles (where he was a member of the Tonight Show band) and Michigan, and recording and touring with Diana Krall and Chris Botti, he also needed more time to complete "Bob Ya Head," which he began working on during 2007.

With originals written as far back as 1985, "BoB: A Palindrome" draws warm inspiration from people who have played important roles in Hurst's life, and the sessions proved to be an exercise in spiritual healing. The jaunty and elegant "3 for Lawrence," which begs for a big band treatment, pays tribute to Lawrence Williams, a drummer and composer from Detroit who set an important example for Hurst before his untimely death. The patiently unfolding, powerfully climactic "Big Queen" and sweetly reflective "Little Queen" were written for Hurst's wife (and manager) Jill and daughter Jillian. "Tigers on Venus" commemorates a day on which Tiger Woods and Venus Williams both triumphed, a doubly proud moment for African Americans.

Then there's "Middle Passage Suite," a lyrical, three-part meditation on black history inspired in part by Charles Johnson's prize-winning novel, Middle Passage. And the Headhunter-like "Jamming (Ichabad)," a fusion-y workout that, as literary sleuths can deduce from the parenthetical reference, has no head.

Bob Hurst was born in Detroit and took up bass as a young boy after seeing the Modern Jazz Quartet perform and meeting Percy Heath. Trumpeter Marcus Belgrave, a Detroit icon, was an early mentor for Hurst, who began working professionally with Belgrave at 15. After meeting drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts on a gig, Hurst was recommended by Tain to his boss, Wynton Marsalis, whose group the bassist joined after college at the University of Indiana and with whom he recorded seven albums for Columbia.
In 1985, the year he made his recording debut on "Out of the Blue," a Blue Note Records project featuring a group of young lions including Kenny Garrett and Ralph Peterson, Hurst began touring with Marsalis. He stayed with the band (which initially included brother Branford and pianist Marcus Roberts) for three years, appearing on such classics as Live from Blues Alley and J Mood. "That was when I started to take myself seriously as a jazz musician and began feeling a real sense of pride in being one," he recalls.

In 1989, Hurst began working with Branford Marsalis and remained for five years, again recording for Columbia. Hurst continued on with Branford to California to begin work on The Tonight Show. When Marsalis left leadership of the show's band in 1994, Hurst stayed on for another six years.

The bassist debuted on record as a leader in 1993 with "Robert Hurst Presents: Robert Hurst" (DIW/Columbia), featuring Kenny Kirkland, Branford Marsalis, Marcus Belgrave, Ralph Jones, and Jeff "Tain" Watts. Most of the music on the disc was specifically written with this exact personnel in mind. The following year, Hurst released a trio session, "One for Namesake" (DIW/Columbia), with Kirkland and Elvin Jones.

In support of "BoB: A Palindrome," the Robert Hurst Ensemble appeared as part of the Detroit Chamber Winds' Nightnotes Series, at Hagopian Carpets in Birmingham, MI; and in the WEMU/Sesi Motor 501 Series at the Ravens Club in Ann Arbor. Hurst was also scheduled to headline the Detroit Jazz Festival on Labor Day weekend. More dates are in the works.

CD/DVD Set of the Month - "Orquestra À Base de Sopro de Curitiba & André Mehmari"

CD/DVD Set of the Month
"Orquestra À Base de Sopro de Curitiba & André Mehmari" (Estúdio Monteverdi)

Rating:
***** (musical performance, video & sonic quality)

Produced by Spinfilmes
Video Director: João Marcelo Gomes
Director & Executive Producer: Sebastião Interlandi Júnior
Musical Director & Conductor: Gabriel Schwartz
Engineer: Victor França
Editing: Lucas Gandhy Andrade & João Marcelo Gomes
Graphic Design: Adriana Alegria
Photos: Sergio Mendonça & Alice Rodrigues

Arranged by Gabriel Schwartz, André Mehmari, Davi Sartori, Léa Freire & Luis Otávio Almeida
Conducted by Gabriel Schwartz
All compositions by André Mehmari, except "Ponta de Areia/San Vicente" (Milton Nascimento-Fernando Brant), "Agora Eu Sei" (Moacir Santos) and "Francisca" (Toninho Horta)
Filmed live @ HSBC Theater (Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil) on June 12, 2011

Featuring: André Mehmari (acoustic piano), Davi Sartori (electric piano), Marsal Nogueira (acoustic bass), Graciliano Zambonin (drums), Iê dos Santos (percussion), Mario Conde (electric guitar), Sebastião Interlandi Júnior (flute), Clayton Rodrigues (flute & piccolo), Gabriel Schwartz (alto sax & flute), Jacson Vieira & Otávio Augusto (clarinets), Alexandre Ribeiro (bass clarinet), Victor Gabriel Castro (alto sax & flute), Sérgio Monteiro Freire (tenor sax), Ozéias Veiga & Douglas Chiullo (trumpets), Alexandre Santos & Osmário Estevam Júnior (trombones)

A top-class band (led by the multi-talented Gabriel Schwartz) with a top-class soloist (the awesome André Mehmari), performing beautiful tunes in brilliant arrangements. Both the video and sonic qualities are simply superb in this impeccable production. Subtleness abounds on Mehmari's phrasing and touch (the man is a quiet virtuosi), as well as on the intelligent orchestrations. One of the best DVD releases of the year!